Day 29 on the robin nest -- the babies will soon attempt to fly

Robin nest watch live on video

Wow, can you believe this little guy is only eight days old? It was only last Sunday when our robin eggs hatched and in that short time the bald, pink hatchlings have gained their eyesight and are now covered in grey down and feathers. This little one seems particularly curious about the world.

It's Day 18 and we have a hatchling!

The first of our three eggs has hatched. Somewhere in Durham Region we have a remote camera trained on a robin nest watching as a pair of robins readies the nest for their spring arrivals. May 4, 2014

Day 18 of the robin nest watch and we have a hatchling

The first of our three eggs has hatched. Somewhere in Durham Region we have a remote camera trained on a robin nest watching as a pair of robins readies the nest for their spring arrivals. May 4, 2014

Robin nest watch live on video

Somewhere in Durham Region we have a remote camera trained on a robin nest watching as a pair of robins readies the nest for their spring arrivals.

Day 5 on the robin nest

Day 5 on the robin nest: We now see two tiny blue eggs in the nest. The female robin is staying closer to home and may lay 1-2 more eggs before settling in to incubate the clutch for 12-14 days.

Day 3 robin nest watch

Day 3 robin nest watch: The female robin is on the nest every morning and pops in and out throughout the day. April 19, 2014

Robin nest watch live on video Day 3

Somewhere in Durham Region we have a remote camera trained on a robin nest watching as a pair of robins readies the nest for their spring arrivals.

Robin nest Day 1

Wednesday April 16, 2014: It's Day 1 of our robin nest watch. The nest was first noticed five days ago but has grown substantially in size as the male and female use grass, twigs and mud to build it up. The plump female can often be seen on the ground nearby or sitting on the nest. There are no eggs in the nest yet.

It's Day 29 of our live video feed of a robin nest and our hatchlings are growing every day.

A grey mass of down and new feathers, it's as if the baby robin bodies must struggle to keep up with the growth of their wings.

Just a few days ago we waited patiently to see a glimpse of a little orange beak when the hatchlings would occasionally peek above the edge of the nest for a morsel of food offered by the adult robins. Now, we can see the hatchlings all the time as they sleep most of the day away in the nest.

Within a couple of days they will be alert and perched upright in the nest much of the day. On Sunday (May 18) they hatchlings will be 14 days old and just about ready to take their first flight and fledge the nest.

Did you know?

The young leave the nest at around two weeks of age, but aren’t fully independent until they’re four weeks old. The female robin often lays another clutch, sometimes even before the first set leaves the nest. In this case, the male takes care of the first brood while the female tends to the second. She may even lay a third clutch depending on the area and the availability of resources. Source: http://cwf-fcf.org

All chicks in the brood leave the nest within two days of each other. Even after leaving the nest, the juveniles will follow their parents around and beg food from them. Juveniles become capable of sustained flight two weeks after fledgling.

American robins spend much of their day foraging for soft invertebrates such as earthworms and ground-dwelling insects to feed their young.

Depending on sex and subspecies, the robin's head features white eye arcs and varies from jet black to grey, with white supercilia and throat, blackish lores and lateral throat stripe. Underparts vary, often in tandem with head color, from deep, rich reddish maroon to grey-scalloped, peachy orange. Males tend to be darker, females greyer, but overlap makes determining the sex of many problematic. Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

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We have mounted a remote camera at a residential home in Durham Region from which we are streaming live video of a robin nest as the pair of birds prepare for the arrival of their clutch. Once the female lays her eggs she will incubate them for about 14 days. The hatchlings, typically three or four, will need another 15 days to mature before they fledge the nest.

The live feed will broadcast during daytime hours and we will have daily updates on the happenings in the nest.

You can join the conversation by Tweeting your comments and robin facts using the hashtag #robins2014. We will feature a selection of the tweets on our website.